Premier League: Chelsea see off City challenge

A close-range finish from Salomon Kalou and a Richard Dunne own-goal gave
Chelsea a 2-0 win over Manchester City which kept the pressure up on Barclays
Premier League leaders Manchester United.
Avram Grant's side took the lead in the sixth minute at Eastlands when Dunne
turned a Nicolas Anelka cross past goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Kalou then doubled his side's advantage in the 53rd minute when he stroked
home Michael Essien's cross from the left to leave Chelsea two points behind Sir
Alex Ferguson's side having played an extra game.
Peter Crouch's ninth goal of the season gave Liverpool a 1-1 draw against
Arsenal in the day's kick-off at the Emirates Stadium which left the Gunners'
title hopes hanging by a thread.
Crouch exchanged passes with Yossi Benayoun in the 42nd minute before he
struck the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Nicklas Bendtner equalised in the 54th minute for Arsene Wenger's side when he
headed home a Cesc Fabregas free-kick.
Arsenal pressed but were unable to find a winner in the second of their
trilogy of matches with Liverpool, and are now five points behind United.
Fulham moved a step closer to relegation after goals from Danny Collins,
Michael Chopra and Kenwyne Jones gave Sunderland a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage.
Collins scored on the stroke of half-time with a glancing header and Chopra
doubled the advantage with a superb volley in the 54th minute.
David Healy pulled a goal back with a spectacular long-range effort in the
74th minute but Jones restored the Black Cats two-goal cushion two minutes later
with a low shot.
A brace from Gareth Barry helped Aston Villa to a comfortable 4-0 victory over
Bolton which meant Wanderers remain four points adrift from safety in 18th
place.
A close-range header from Barry gave the home side the lead at Villa Park in
the ninth minute and Gabriel Agbonlahor made it 2-0 in the 56th minute with a
neat finish inside the six-yard box.
Barry collected his second with low shot from 20 yards and Marlon Harewood
headed the fourth from a Barry cross in the 85th minute.
Ryan Taylor struck twice go give Wigan boss Steve Bruce a 2-0 win over his
former club Birmingham who were reduced to 10 men.
Taylor dispatched an Antonio Valencia cross from the right in the 15th minute
and then bundled the ball home from close range in the 55th minute.
Birmingham captain Damien Johnson was shown a straight red card in the 37th
minute for a nasty tackle on Josip Skoko.
A goal each from strikers Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka helped
Newcastle to their third consecutive win with a 3-0 demolition of Reading at St
James Park.
Martins fired home in the 18th minute after he latched onto Nicky Butt's pass
and Owen doubled the advantage two minutes before the break when he lobbed the
ball over Hahnemann.
Viduka slotted home from inside the penalty area in the 58th minute after he
was found by Habib Beye to round off the scoring.
Morten Gamst Pedersen's strike cancelled out Dimitar Berbatov's early goal to
give Blackburn a point against Tottenham at Ewood Park.
Berbatov broke the deadlock in the seventh minute when he latched on to
Jermaine Jenas' pass and bundled the ball home.
But Pedersen equalised in the 30th minute when he comfortably tapped home a
David Bentley cross home from inside the six-yard box.